


Aestimabilis

by FirebirdSong



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And After that, Coffee, Fluff, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, One-Shot, just fluff, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:00:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4723511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirebirdSong/pseuds/FirebirdSong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>aestimābilis (m, f) (neuter aestimābile); third declension<br/>estimable, valuable, worthy of appraisement</p><p>The two times Draco Malfoy didn't like coffee and the one time he did</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aestimabilis

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt on writing about this beautiful, breathtaking couple I'm totally in love with.  
> English is not my native language, and I've written this in a bit of a hurry (when the story comes into your head, you have to immediately write it or it will slip away).  
> I hope you enjoy!

Draco made a disgusted face as soon as the strong, bitter taste took over his tongue.

"Mom, this is-" he started, loudly, and Narcissa raised her eyebrows at him in a way that all but spelled  _be polite_. A frown took place of the indignant expression upon his face as he took another sip of the Turkish coffee, obediently.

His grandfather snorted. "Not everything can be sweet, little man. Try not to judge it so quickly. _A_ _ppreciate it._ "

Draco looked pleadingly at his mother, who smiled amusedly at the eight-year old. "He's still too young for that." She said, taking the delicate china from his hands and placing it at the table, before handing him the plate with his favourite biscuits. It took a while for the taste to fade from his mouth, and he wondered how could one possibly  _like_ that sort of thing.

He swore to himself that he would never ever try coffee again, no matter how special it was or how far away it came from.  _  
_

 

* * *

 

 

"Blaise, you know how much I hate it." Draco pointed out, his eyes moving away from the book he had been staring at all day, not really sure he had everything memorized.

"Come on, you look ruined. If you're not sleeping, you should at least try to keep yourself awake decently." Pansy said, accepting the cup of coffee offered to her. "There's only so much the awakening spell can do for you."

Blaise sit on a cushion beside Draco and took the book from him, placing it on the carpeted floor. "Now be a good baby and do as you're told. Passing out from exhaustion and starvation won't get you anywhere but to Madam Pomfrey. At least eat something. It's not like you're making a lot of progress studying non-stop like this." 

Draco rolled his eyes, but gave in. He had refused to go to the Great Hall for dinner, with the excuse that it would be a waste of time. It wasn't untrue, with the N.E.W.T.s so close, but Draco was avoiding to walk around Hogwarts those days. He didn't feel like he belonged there like he once did, and eating in the Great Hall with so many people around him, looking at him like he was the scum of the earth... It became exhausting. The Slytherin table wasn't as crowded as the other House's were, and there were so many faces missing. He couldn't bear to think about the time before the War everytime he ate. He eventually stopped showing up for meals there, preferring to eat quietly in the room assigned to him when he decided to finish his studies in Hogwarts.

The Slytherins had their own rooms; many of the ones available for the eighth year's were never occupied, so there was no need to share. Draco didn't like to sleep alone on those days, though, so either he was at Blaise's or Blaise was at his room, first sharing beds like little kids and then sharing their bodies as well. It felt like it was only natural for them to have a fling, having known each other for what felt like forever. It was the first time Draco dared to be with another male, and it had the pleasant sensation of things slowly falling into place after his whole world had changed so much. Slowly, he was becoming himself, finding out who he really was. It was scary - but after having his house invaded by a madman, being threatened by said madman for a whole year and nearly dying in the Fiendfyre, he wouldn't allow himself to be really frightened by something that made him feel happy and alive, even if just for some moments. 

Blaise smiled and rolled his eyes as Draco ignored the coffee and had some raspberry juice instead. 

 

* * *

 

 

When Potter laughed like that, Draco couldn't help laughing too. It was so beautiful. The raven-haired man laughed with his eyes, with his hands, with his whole body. He was taken over by euphoria, and he  _glowed_. 

It had been a while since he had seen happiness like that. It had been a while since he had _felt_ happiness like that.

"It wasn't  _that_ funny, Potter. It wasn't funny _at all_." He tried to sound hurt, but it was impossible. "You bastard. I doubt you would find it so funny if  _you_ were the one turned into an animal."

"You were a  _ferret_ , Malfoy. A fucking ferret. You can't really blame me for laughing." Harry said. There was no way they could just meet like that and not remember the past. So they focused on the lighter parts of the past, teasing one another like they were so much younger than they felt. Like there hadn't been a war, like they had been just kids annoying each other all their lives. The animosity between them evaporated somehow, and there wasn't need for it there, sitting side by side in a bench in muggle London, wearing muggle clothes, after four years of not seeing each other. They weren't the same - even if some long lost part of themselves had been brought to surface. 

"You have kindly reminded me of that six times already, and I still don't find it funny enough." He managed to stop laughing and look at least a little offended. Harry smirked at him and sipped at his iced coffee, and Draco took a moment to appreciate how fine his school enemy had grown to be, how handsome he looked, how magnetizing he had become.  _No, he was always magnetizing_ , Draco thought. It had always seemed to him that Potter was always the centre around which things gravitated, always involved in every matter, always being spotted in the middle of the crowd, always being the one to blame or to thank for. Infuriatingly always at the corner of every memory. Always warm and bright and unreachable, like the sun. 

"You take yourself too seriously. Maybe that's why you're such a git all the time." The smile Harry directed towards him was nearly  _flirtatious_. It made Draco want to kiss him hard enough to take his breath away. 

"If I'm such an unpleasant company, I should be going." Draco suggested, arching an eyebrow and pretending to be about to get up and leave.

"No, please. Stay. It's... good to see you again." Harry said, quietly. "I've always wondered how you were doing all this time. After I heard about your mother, I..."

"Don't." Draco interrupted. Harry stopped talking, looking pained. The blonde sighed. "I haven't thought about it in a while. I... don't talk about it." 

An awkward silence fell over them, and they suddenly were very interested in their own drinks. Draco caught himself missing the easiness of a few moments before, and asked the first thing that came into his mind. "What does it taste like?"

"Like... coffee?" Harry said, looking a little puzzled by the question. "Don't tell me that Draco Malfoy never had a cup of coffee." 

"I've  _had_ it, of course I've had it." Draco rolled his eyes. "It's just that it's been a long time, and I hated it at first, but now I can't remember what it tastes like."

"Do you want some?" the green-eyed man asked, offering his iced coffee. Draco studied it for a moment before taking a sip. 

"It's good." the blonde said, looking a little surprised. "But I remember finding it awful when I was a child." 

"Well..." Harry shrugged and smiled at him. "I remember finding  _you_  awful when I was a child, but it turns out I was wrong. You're not that bad. I should have taken some time to... appreciate you instead of just hating you all those years. Even if you were  _really_ a git most of the time."

"Ouch." Draco chuckled, looking dumbstruck for a moment. "Still, if my eleven-year old self knew that someday I'd hear it from you, I probably wouldn't resent you so much for rejecting my hand like that."

Harry smiled at the memory, and there was something unreadable in his eyes as he reached out a hand for the blonde. "Hi. I'm Harry Potter. Can we start again and be friends?"

Draco looked at him and smirked. He felt himself being taken over by a rush of adrenaline as the idea crossed his mind. "Hi. I'm Draco Malfoy." As he took Harry's hand in his own, he moved forward to kiss those beautiful lips smiling at him, softly, briefly. The emerald green eyes were glimmering with veiled surprise, as well as amusement.

"I don't think we can ever be friends." Draco added, chuckling to himself.

"I believe you're right." Harry said, grinning madly before claiming the blonde's lips properly.

Potter's lips tasted like coffee, and Draco decided he liked it enough. He surely could get used to that.

 

 


End file.
